Page 3 of Deception
“I’ll clear my schedule to make sure we get this done as soon as possible,” he says. Once Brock leaves, Grayson walks over and locks the door before moving back to his seat. “We have a problem.”
“We? Like, you and me have a problem?”
“Like you and the club,” he says. “That stunt you pulled when we caught Gerard in that warehouse pissed Julian off. He’s been stewing this past year, especially because the mayor is demanding his resignation now. Privately, but still.”
Colt just smirks at the memory of telling the media that the dipshits of the GBPD were nothing but over-inflated figureheads. “He’s not someone who can handle the truth. He’s alot like my father-in-law, don’t you think? But I can see how that would piss him off.”
Grayson doesn’t laugh with him. “Someone inside says he’s made it his mission to take down the Drifters. I’m not sure what he has, or if any of it’s credible, but he’s not above fabricating evidence to get what he wants. If he’s desperate, which he is right now, he won’t let something like the law get in his way.”
There’s obvious pain in his tone. Grayson used to have dreams of becoming the Chief, but love disrupted everything. Worse, though, he saw the dark side to his idols, especially when they tried to use him as a pawn when they asked for help catching the De-Identifier. Colt feels terrible for him because he knows what it’s like to watch your heroes fall from grace.
“Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll keep an ear to the ground and let the others know, too. And thanks for help with this Gerard-slash-Phillip situation. I don’t know if it’s the truth or not, but I have to know for sure. I can’t risk Lex. Not again.”
“None of us can,” he says, walking him to the door. “I’ll do whatever I can. Especially since I can see how much you believe it.”
“Can’t prove it, so what I believe doesn’t really matter.”
“It does to me,” he says. “See you around, Colt.”
Chapter Two
Griffin’s Beach
Grayson
Ashley Tate rests her head on Grayson’s bare chest as they lay on the couch in front of the television, their clothes thrown all around the room.
“I don’t know what it is about this movie, but I can never make it to the end without climbing on top of you,” Ashley says, her dark hair splayed out for his fingers to toy with.
“I don’t mind,” Grayson says with a smile.
And he really doesn’t. Every time she suggests they try to watch the movie again, he knows he’s getting laid. They’ve tried to get through it at least a dozen times since they started dating, and each time, they’re lucky to make it to the halfway point. Ifsomeone asked him what it was about, he has no idea. He just knows he loves it.
This time, they only made it about ten minutes before her hands roamed along his body until his jeans were unbuttoned and down to his ankles. If she’d been any rougher, she’d have ripped them as well as popped his hip out of its socket.
He’d expected Ashley to climb on top of him and ride him like a bucking bronco. It’s one of his favorite positions because he gets one hell of a view, but he didn’t mind the least when she kneeled between his legs and sucked him as though her life depended on it. Her tongue and mouth greedily tasted him until he felt like he floated above the couch rather than sitting on the cushion when he came. Yes, he may not know what this movie is or what it’s about, but he thinks it just might be his favorite.
“You have amazing rebound time,” she says, her lips peppering his chest with kisses. “Even after you finished in my mouth, you were ready to go in again in minutes.”
Smirking, Grayson twists a few strands of hair around his index finger. “Baby, I think you underestimate just how much I love burying my face between your legs.”
At one point in his life, he’d imagined what he has with Ashley with Colt’s wife. He’d loved Lex Dalton—now Lex Nichols—with his whole heart. He says it started in middle school, but it actually started long before then. Knowing she was with Colt, of all people, drove him insane, but he’s glad he didn’t get what he wished for.
Lex told Grayson that he was in love with theideaof her, not actually in love with her. When she’d told him that, he thought she was crazy. Blind. How could she not see how much he loved her?
Ashley Short was a couple of years ahead of him in school, and he never knew all that much about her. He wasn’t on great terms with Colt and Ky, mostly out of jealousy because of how closethey were with Lex, so he never knew much about their families. Not unless they made the papers by being arrested. And he doubts Ashley would have given him a second glance back then.
But when she moved into the house next door to him, she captured his heart in a way he’d never expected. For the first time, he understood what Lex meant when she said Grayson wasn’t in love with her. The way he loves Ashley couldn’t be more different from Lex, and he’s proud to call Ashley his wife.
“I think you love how I moan out your name,” Ashley says.
He laughs and looks down at her. “Well, it’s not a turn off, that’s for sure.”
“What do you think it is about this movie?”
“I don’t even know what the damn thing is about. But as soon as I see that opening sequence, I know I’ll never be disappointed.”
“I bet you aren’t,” she says as the credits roll. “Maybe we should try it again.”
